Tuesday, May 31, 2016

This week's topic is Ten Books I Plan to Put in My Beach Bag This Summer:

1)

This looks the perfect summer read: fabulously over-the-top, suspenseful, and short. I could probably finish it in one lazy summer day.

2) and 3)

I love both these authors, and have had these two books sitting on my TBR shelf for far too long. Summer is a perfect time to read them both.

4)

Cozy mysteries are perfect summer reads, and this is one of my favorite cozy mystery series.

5)

This is one of those true crime books that plays out almost like a tabloid story in a gossip magazine, except that it's all true.

6)

This is such a fun series, and it's been far too long since I read the first book. I need to pick this series back up pronto!

7) 8) and 9)

These are the three reads for the Maidens of Murder Agatha Christie Book Club for June, July, and August. I've had the best time re reading all these Agatha Christies!

10)

I've heard such good things about this, but haven't gotten to read it yet!

I finished Plumdog last night, and cannot recommend it enough. Delightful really is the best word for it. It's a graphic novel through the eyes of the author's beloved dog, Plumdog, and it is a real joy to read.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.
Sophie Hannah, in my opinion, is one of the few writers today who could pull a story (and a story-within-a-story) like this off.

Justine and her family have left the big city of London for a quieter life in the country. Determined to leave the broken pieces of her once-powerful career behind, Justine settles into a life of "doing Nothing" with a capital N.

But then her daughter, Ellen seems to change before her eyes, becoming withdrawn and secretive. Ellen finally admits that she is upset because her best friend, George, has been unfairly expelled from her new school.

When Justine marches into the school to right this terrible wrong, though, she is told that George hasn't been expelled. George doesn't exist.

Woven into this wonderfully bizarre and intriguing tale is a story Ellen is writing for class, the story of a family with a murderer among them.

This is a book you will not be able to put down. The tension builds and builds until you have to stop everything else you're doing to keep turning those pages. While, for me at least, I don't think any ending could have completely lived up to the incredible buildup, the resolution packed an amazing, Hannah-caliber punch.

This is certainly not a book for the faint of heart.

I've read a lot of mysteries, thrillers, and true crime over the years, and this book had me squirming. There were even times I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get through certain chapters.

But I'm so glad I pushed through, because this is a book well worth the effort.

A sister missing over two decades. A husband recently murdered. Two sisters who haven't spoken in twenty years.

All of this, and so much more, collide in Slaughter's Pretty Girls. How everything is related is the real treat, and one I absolutely refuse to spoil any part of. What I will say is this is one of those special thrillers that have you gasping out loud on the train, and where you might just miss your stop because you have to find out what happens next.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Welcome to What We're Reading Wednesday, here on The Bookkeeper's Apprentice!

Here's what I'm reading right now:

Still Reading:

I'm still stretching the delightful Plumdog (graphic novel read)out as long as I can, but I'm almost done with it.

I'm also almost done with The Body in the Library (before bed Bookstagram book club read), just in time to start next month's Maidens of Murder read. I'm still making my way through Breach of Crust (ebook on my phone), which, according to Kindle, I have a little less than two hours on.

I'm only a couple of chapters into Nonna's Book of Mysteries (other before bed book), but it's a really interesting read. The author is especially good at painting an amazing picture of Italy, where the book takes place.

New Reads:

A Game For All The Family is my current Kindle read. I love Sophie Hannah, and am really enjoying this ARC.

I was so excited to find a copy of Pretty Girls at the thrift store, as I've been hearing a lot about it. It's my current hard copy read, and it's a dark and twisty (and well written) ride.